The Hindu : `Voices of rural women should determine government policies'

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Friday, Feb 20, 2004

Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu

`Voices of rural women should determine government policies'

By Our Special Correspondent

CHENNAI, FEB. 19. Theirs were voices of distress from various districts of Tamil Nadu. Voices of women that should determine government policies and echo in the official files, according to Poornima Advani, National Commission for Women chairperson.

At a seminar on the status of women in Tamil Nadu organised by the commission, women, labourers and activists voiced their concerns over a host of problems — from the State Government's liquor policy to sand quarrying and domestic violence.

``Illicit liquor flows freely in several villages at Palacode in Dharmapuri,'' complained Mahimai of the Dalit Women's Movement. The failure to stop sale of illicit liquor was resulting in increased domestic violence and ``incalculable misery'' for women, she said.

A group of domestic workers here presented a complaint to the commission over the alleged ``irregularities'' and cases of sexual harassment at a Chennai-based voluntary service centre for domestic help. Even after several representations to the Government, no action had been taken against the institution head, they rued. Mrs. Advani promised to take it up at a scheduled meeting with top Government officials tomorrow.

Christy Samy of a Karur-based women's organisation, Swathi, claimed that the Government's decision to take over the sand quarrying operations had not mitigated the sufferings of the people, especially women, as the Cauvery river bed was continuing to be exploited worsening the drought conditions.

The former Director-General of Police, V.R.Lakshminarayanan, insisted that all cases of crime against women should be tried in the fast track courts. In 2002, only 4 out of the 257 cases of molestation and rape ended in conviction and 255 such cases registered in 2003 were still pending, he said.

Mythili Sivaraman, National vice-president, All-India Democratic Women's Association, said extortion of dowry was also a form of violence against women and had to be dealt with sternly.

Shanta Kumari of the National Federation of Women, said mahila courts should be set up in all districts to ensure speedy disposal of cases. Efforts should be made to provide pre-litigation counselling to women approaching the family courts to avoid unnecessary litigation.

Expressing concern at the declining sex ratio in the State, Andal Damodaran, secretary, Indian Council for Child Welfare, said urban areas such as Chennai too had recorded a drop, which was indicative of the prevalence of female foeticide.

Kalpana Naik, Commandant of the Women's battalion, said all-woman police stations had received nearly one lakh complaints over the past two years. The police were going beyond their legal brief in order to help women in distress. The Commission should urge the Government to provide legal validity to the process of police counselling and intervention in domestic disputes, she said.

The legal cell member of the State Women's Commission, Sudha Ramalingam, detailing the plight of woman prisoners, said Tamil Nadu had the largest number of woman prisoners, most of whom were under preventive detention. And there was no provision for change of clothes too for the woman detenus.

In her address, Mrs.Advani called for a proactive administrative machinery and police, which would reach out to women in distress instead of waiting for them to knock at their doors.

She also urged the State Government to provide statutory powers for the State Women's Commission to enable it investigate offences against women and issue suitable directives to the authorities.

The State Women's Commission chairperson, Vasanthi Devi, said the commission had forwarded 528 petitions to the Government last year, out of which 36 were disposed of.

Printer friendly page
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Tamil Nadu